ben franklin – The Saturday Evening Posthttp://www.saturdayeveningpost.com
Home of The Saturday Evening PostTue, 26 Sep 2017 21:28:23 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.2Ben Franklin Used Fake Newshttp://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2017/02/28/history/post-perspective/even-ben-franklin-used-fake-news.html
http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2017/02/28/history/post-perspective/even-ben-franklin-used-fake-news.html#commentsTue, 28 Feb 2017 17:36:54 +0000http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/?p=121024The term “fake news” may be new, but the concept isn’t. Politicians have long been the perpetrators — and the victims — of phony information.

]]>It may seem like our political climate, in which politicians and journalists are accused of inventing phony stories, is unprecedented. Yet there are similarities to past events, and some of the perpetrators of early political chicanery may surprise you.

For example, in 1782, while still representing the United States in Paris, Benjamin Franklin printed a fake edition of an actual Boston newspaper, The Independent Chronicle. Amid the fictitious ads and articles, Franklin inserted a made-up story about the massive slaughter of white settlers on the frontiers of New York. Native Americans, in the service of the British forces, had collected 700 scalps from men, women, children, and even infants, Franklin lied.

When the news reached America, it was reprinted in papers throughout New England. The story helped stiffen American resistance to the British, who were now seen as using Indians to terrorize settlers. Released in Paris, the story also helped sway European opinion against England.

Franklin’s “fake news” was just the start of a long tradition in American politics.

As we noted in “Crude Language on the Campaign Trail,” presidential campaigns have often been marked by fabricated stories and synthetic scandals. Even after the race, the slander often continued.

Roosevelt enjoyed broad support among voters, particularly in the early years of his presidency. But he remained a controversial leader for many Americans. Some of his opponents hoped to blacken his reputation with reports of corruption or dishonesty in the White House.

In a file he marked “Below the Belt,” Early gave examples of these fake news stories. Some hinted at sinister, international conspiracies implicating Roosevelt, a foreign-born Supreme Court justice, and labor leaders, among others. One story claimed President Roosevelt had prevented the capture and trial of the true kidnappers of the Lindbergh baby. The kidnappers, it argued, were protected by the president and were still kidnapping and murdering.

Early wondered, as many Americans do today, “just how gullible do these muckrakers think the American people are?”

Roosevelt, however, refused to be baited by these stories. When a publisher reported that the president had fallen into a coma, he offered to print a retraction if the White House issued a denial. All he got was silence. Roosevelt refused to reward him with more media attention.

Unfortunately, in our era of 24-hour information, ignoring even flagrant fake news doesn’t seem to be an option. What and whom are we to believe? In both the literal and figurative sense, we are left to our own devices.

]]>http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2017/02/28/history/post-perspective/even-ben-franklin-used-fake-news.html/feed5Cover Gallery: The Wisdom of Ben Franklinhttp://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2017/01/11/art-entertainment/art-and-artists/title-cover-gallery-wisdom-ben-franklin.html
http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2017/01/11/art-entertainment/art-and-artists/title-cover-gallery-wisdom-ben-franklin.html#commentsWed, 11 Jan 2017 16:21:29 +0000http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/?p=119841Every January between 1943 and 1961, the Saturday Evening Post featured on its cover an image of Benjamin Franklin, along with a quote from the famed inventor, printer, and statesman, to honor his birthday on January 17. Below is a selection of those covers, along with his wise words, which still resonate hundreds of years later.

]]>Every January between 1943 and 1961, the Saturday Evening Post featured an image of Benjamin Franklin on its cover, along with a quote from the famed inventor, printer, and statesman. Below is a selection of those covers along with his wise words, which still resonate hundreds of years later.

January 16, 1943John Falter

“God grant that not only the love of liberty but a thorough Knowledge of the Rights of Man may pervade all the Nations of the Earth so that a Philosopher may set his foot anywhere and say This is my Country.”

January 15, 1944John Atherton

“The Eyes of Christendom are upon us, and our honor as a People has become a matter of Utmost Consequence to be taken care of. If we give up our Rights in this Contest, a Century to come will not Restore us to the Opinion of the World; we shall be stamped with the character of Poltroons & Fools — Present Inconveniences are, therefore, to be Borne with Fortitude, and Better Times expected.”

January 19, 1946John Atherton

“The Rapid Progress True Science now makes, occasions my regretting sometimes that I was born so soon. It is Impossible to imagine the Height to which may be carried, in a Thousand Years, the Power of Man over Matter…O that Moral Science were in a fair way of improvement, that Men would cease to be Wolves to one another, and that Human Beings would at length learn what they now improperly call Humanity!”

January 18, 1947John Atherton

“Friends and Neighbors, the Taxes are indeed very heavy, if those laid on by Government were the only Ones we had to pay, we might more easily discharge them; but we have many others, and much more grievous to some of us. We are taxed twice as much by our Idleness, three times as much by our Pride, and four times as much by our Folly; and from these Taxes the Commissioners cannot ease or deliver us.

January 17, 1953John Atherton

“I think with you, that nothing is of more importance for the public weal, than to form and train up youth in wisdom and virtue. Wise and good men are, in my opinion, the strength of a state for more so than riches or arms.”

January 15, 1955John Atherton

“Do not believe the reports you hear of our internal Divisions. We are, I believe, as much united as any People ever were, and as firmly.”

January 21, 1956 Stanley Meltzoff

“If all Printers were determin’d not to print any thing till they were sure it would offend no body, there would be very little printed.”

January 18, 1958Stanley Meltzoff

“Happiness consists more in small conveniences or pleasures that occur every day, than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom to a man in the course of his life.”